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Baseball and Boxing Greats

Considering one tomb that’s here, it seems appropriate now that Graceland Cemetery is a pleasant walk from Wrigley Field. The father of the National League is one of the figures from the world of sports who have their last time outs here, as well as two of boxing’s best-known names.

William Hulbert, 1832 – 1882, was born in Burlington Flats, NY. In 1834, his family moved to Chicago where he lived the rest of his life. Becoming a successful businessman Hulbert was a backer of the Chicago White Stockings baseball club at the inception of the National Association in 1871. On October 7, 1871 Chicago caught fire and the White Stockings’ Lake Park was lost to the flames. The team had to withdraw from the National Association for two years as they rebuilt and returned to play in 1874. At this time, Hulbert was an officer in the club and by 1875 he was the club’s president.

By 1876, he became disillusioned with the National Association’s lack of structure, and integrity and brought together several team owners to discuss his vision of a new league. This league would be founded on the principles of recognition of contracts and business integrity. To ensure an orderly game, Hulbert set up various rules and regulations: barring gambling, and mandating teams to complete a preset schedule set up by the league; drinking and playing on Sunday were not banned but were seen as improper.  At the founding meeting of the National League straws were drawn to decide who would be president, Morgan Bulkeley became president for one year. The following year Hulbert was elected as president, while still head of the White Stockings.

Hulbert ruled over the league from 1877 until his death, unyielding in his vision. He had the league take over hiring umpires instead of the teams and expelled teams that failed to finish their schedules to reinforce public perceptions of the league’s integrity. He also helped institute the first reserve rule intended to curtail salaries and to stop players jumping from team to team. In 1877 four men from the Louisville ball club conspired to throw the pennant race. Hulbert banned all four players for life setting a model of how to handle fraudulence in the league. Knowing that beer and ball playing on Sunday was improper but not prohibited, Cincinnati did both to the dismay of Hulbert. Hulbert’s final major act as president was banning beer and ball playing on Sunday and ejecting Cincinnati from the league in 1881. In retaliation Cincinnati organized the American Association in 1882. Two weeks before the American Association’s debut Hulbert died of a heart attack at the age of 49. Hulbert was enshrined in the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1995.

He is buried in Graceland Cemetery under a marker designed to look like a baseball. The marker includes the names of all the cities originally included in the National League.

Robert Fitzsimmons, 1863 – 1917, a native of Cornwall, moved to New Zealand as a child, and representing that island nation, became boxing’s first three-division world champion – in the Middleweight, Light-Heavyweight and Heavyweight divisions, but not in that order. The Veterans Boxing Association of Illinois and other boxing fans replaced his original, misspelled headstone in 1973.

Jack Johnson, 1876 – 1946, knocked out Tommy Burns in Australia in 1908 and became the first black boxer to win the World Heavyweight championship. But other than a large stone with his last name on it, his Graceland grave is unmarked. That has caused some problems for fans who came looking to pay their respects after watching Ken Burns’ 2005 film “Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson” on public television. According to the family, plans are being made for a new memorial.